Eggplant^2 & Still No Escolar

It is now Week 2 of The Exercise, and so far it is improving.  The Sucking Of Wind continues, but is becoming less severe.  The Diet also continues, although last week there was the occasional slip-up, but hey, baby steps.  The Bride requested fish (surprise) which was good because it helps steer me away from red meat as much as possible.  I wanted to have an appetizer ready for consumption when she came home, and as I looked through that section I selected the Eggplant-Tomato Dip on page 82.

While the eggplant was on the grill being roasted whole, I prepped the rest of the ingredients for the dip.  It was all going to be pureed together, so I placed everything into my immersion blender's container.

I'll be honest...when I grabbed the eggplant with my tongs, I apparently burst an air bubble that had formed.   It made a noise comparable to a firecracker.  If anyone was watching me at the grill at that moment, they would have seen me jump back in a startled state.

I cut open the eggplant removed as much of the seeds as possible, and then diced up the remainder.

The cubes went into the container, and I was ready to make the dip.

WHHIIIRRRRR!!!

The recipe calls for toasted pita shells, but I had this wonderful sourdough boule at home that I didn't want to go to waste, so I used that instead.

I'm getting better at grilling bread.  Thanks Weber!

The sourdough pieces were then sliced into triangle shapes to approximate the pita chips, and below is what was awaiting The Bride when she got home from work.

The main dish that I picked out was the Escolar Swordfish With Grilled Vegetable Salad on page 310.  This is the second (and last) escolar recipe in The Guide, so I figured that I would try something different.  Last week I replaced that fish with tuna, and this time I wanted to try swordfish as the substitute.  This also had the advantage of not worrying about trying to leave the interior of the tuna rare.  Swordfish is supposed to be cooked through, which is a bit easier to accomplish.

The "vegetables" in this salad were eggplant, tomato, and fennel, which was quite similar to the appetizer.

The eggplant and fennel went onto the grill, and in the meantime I diced the tomato.  I cannot wait for my heirloom tomatoes to get into full stride.  I won't have to pay for tomatoes for the rest of the summer, and they taste SO much better!

I also had the time to assemble the dressing for the salad.

Proper grill marks were accomplished, and once the vegetables were cool enough to handle, they could be diced for the salad.

The trio of vegetables and their dressing were tossed together, while the fish took its turn on the grill.

More proper grill marks made it known that the fish was ready!

I split the fish into two halves and plated our dinner.

Just like last week, the appetizer stole the show.  I am still marveling at how delicious the dip was for how healthy it is.  There really are no "bad" ingredients, and also is quite malleable.  The simple addition of a spice mixture can completely change the flavor profile for the sake of variety.  As I remain on The Diet, this may make some more appearances.  The swordfish was tasty, but was just salt and pepper.  The dressing for the vegetable salad made it more interesting, and I found myself constantly placing swordfish on the same fork load as the vegetables to liven up the fish's flavor.  The vegetables themselves were also pleasant.  What I really enjoyed about them was that every element was able to be tasted.  In the same bite you could taste the eggplant, followed by the fennel, followed by the tomato.  It was fun.